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• New Jersey wineries are facing a very uncertain future today after a last-ditch effort to legalize their remote winery tasting rooms—for many of them their only source of sales—has failed to pass in the New Jersey state legislature. In December 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the off-site tasting rooms and retail outlets maintained by New Jersey wineries were unconstitutional because out-of-state wineries weren't permitted to open up the same type of outlets. A new bill that would have legalized the off-site tasting rooms as well as permitted limited direct shipping from both in- and out-of-state wineries, A.B.3831, was passed in the state senate yesterday with the support of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, but due to amendments he made (a 250,000-gallon cap limit for direct shipping; the original bill introduced by Assemblyman Joseph Cryan did not include a direct-shipping provision), the assembly declined to approve it in concurrence because Assemblyman Cryan opposes direct shipping. The New Jersey legislature was suspended today, the last day of session, but will reconvene next week to continue to work on the state's budget. If an alternative bill legitimizing remote tasting rooms for New Jersey wineries isn't passed then, their next hope is that the Third Circuit will reverse its decision when it reconsiders the case on July 18, which isn't likely, and then New Jersey's tasting rooms will have to close, potentially destroying the state's wine industry. "We'll be padlocked," said Amalthea winery owner Louis Caracciolo. "It's an election year and we're being used as pawns."
• Football and wine are teaming up again. The son of a bootlegger, former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys football coach Barry Switzer gave up the “hard stuff” for red wine 25 years ago. Now, he's jumping into the wine business. Switzer Family Vineyards launched its 2008 vintage in Norman, Okla., June 22. “Like my football teams, I don’t want to put anything on the field that isn’t the best,” Switzer told Unfiltered. In partnership with California's Napa Wine Company, Switzer Family Vineyards is sourcing grapes from Yountville and Oakville. Its Oakville vines are just south of Opus One and Nickel & Nickel. The first vintage used mostly grapes from the Napa Wine Company’s Mill Race Vineyard in Yountville. The blend of 95 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 2.5 percent Malbec and 2.5 percent Petit Verdot is aged 18 to 20 months in new and old French oak barrels. Priced at $60 a bottle, about 500 cases of the first vintage were made. Even Switzer’s old boss, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (a Caymus Special Selection fan), wants to sell the wine in his stadium. That’s fitting, considering Jones helped form Switzer’s palate. Jones gave Switzer a wine list “and asked me to experiment with the wines. I enjoyed that,” Switzer said. A few years later, Switzer was touring Napa Valley and began investigating what would become Switzer Family Vineyards. Switzer said he hopes to be producing 1,000 to 2,000 cases a year and selling it in “Big 12 Country,” an NCAA geographical region. His plans also include owning land in Oakville. “I wasn’t going to just put my name on a label, hope it sold and go away,” he said. “I’m going to be in the business from now on.”
• As the world's wine trade convened on Bordeaux for Vinexpo 2011 this past week, they were introduced to some non-traditional new additions to the neighborhood. Château Cheval-Blanc introduced its ultramodern minimalist new cellar. Not to be outdone, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild feted her new cellar at Château Clerc Milon, dazzling her guests—a mix of celebrities, Parisian politicians and media types—with a fireworks display over the winery set to Gioachino Rossini’s comedic opera La Cenerentola. "Clerc Milon was nothing to be seen, nothing to look at," said the Baroness. “Today it is something to look at." The 38,556-square-foot, ipe wood and blonde Médoc stone winery sits on a gravel plateau called Mousset, with a spacious deck overlooking the vineyards of Lafite and Mouton. Theater set designer Richard Peduzzi put his dramatic touch to the interior and the new label, and 3,229 square feet of photovoltaic panels make the Pauillac fifth-growth's new winery energy independent. In the gravity-fed cellar, director Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy showed off 40 vats ranging from 5 to 10 tons. “The terroir, climate, culture and regulations are different," said Danjoy, who worked for nine years at Napa's Opus One. "But the philosophy of making a classic wine true to its terroir and owner is the same.”
• It seems the worldwide wine crime wave Unfiltered reported last week is still brewing, as is its crossover into pop culture television crime dramas—viewers of last night's episode of Franklin & Bash saw attorney Jared Franklin lionize opposing counsel by saying, "He's been in Wine Spectator … twice!" Here in the real world, police in Liverpool, England, discovered a counterfeiting scheme after a shopper found a piece of already-been-chewed gum in a bottle of rosé. British officers raided the store in Liverpool where the bottle was purchased and seized 50 bottles of fake rosé—supposedly from brands Echo Falls, Blossom Hill, Kumala and Hardy—each on sale for about £5. The careless, or shall we say Carefree, scammers found previously-used empty bottles, refilled them with an unidentified pink-hued liquid and secured them with a heat-sealed screw cap. The counterfeiters are still on the lam, but a spokesperson for the Liverpool Alcohol and Tobacco Unit told Unfiltered that “it was a fairly localized incident involving the one shop. Officers have visited nearly 100 shops in the area, but have not found more bottles.” While lab results are still pending on the mystery liquid, which was oxidized and smelled of vinegar, officials hope the liquid is “just unpleasant but harmless.” Gumshoes in France are also on the lookout for some missing Burgundy. Today we received a plea from Becky Wasserman Selections wine consultant Peter Wasserman: "60 bottles of Fred [Jacques-Frédéric] Mugnier Musigny 2005 were stolen from our cellars in Bouilland. Please contact us if they are offered to you." Time to take a swig out of crime, Unfiltered readers.
• The 2010 World Wine Tour held in Hong Kong on May 31 raised over $500,000, more than double the funds raised in previous years. All of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation, an organization that provides medical services to Laotians, with an emphasis on children. More specifically, the funds raised will benefit the Thong Pong Boarding School for Blind Children, a facility that houses and educates blind children aged 4 to 16 years old. With the additional funding, the school hopes to build a housing unit for the male students (who currently sleep on the floor), hire new teachers and further develop the school’s music program. Two of the event’s organizers, 24-year-old Anja Cheriakova of the Netherlands and 25-year-old Georges Janssens of the United States traveled around the world for a year meeting with winemakers, acquiring donations and blogging about their experience. Initially hoping to gather 300 bottles for auction, the pair was able to secure 450 bottles from 60 different wine regions from around the world, including France, Italy and Germany, as well as less traditional wine-producing countries, such as China, Vietnam, India and Thailand. “We couldn’t be prouder,” said Janssens and Cheriakova, “and we owe a huge thank you to everyone participating in the project, from the sponsors who made it possible, to the vintners donating their wines, to all the followers reading along with our journey.”
Sips & Tips | Wine & Healthy Living
Video Theater | Collecting & Auctions


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Farmers are accusing a South Carolina based hemp company of ruining their plants. Two farmers from South Carolina and three from Alabama are suing David Bulick, a businessman in Charleston.
“We believe that accountability is important, particularly in relatively new industries like the South Carolina hemp industry, and we will look forward to pursuing accountability at a jury trial when the time comes,” said Kyle White, a lawyer representing the farmers.
Bulick is fighting these allegations, stating to the press that he did nothing wrong, even going so far as to put up countersuits. Charleston Hemp Company LLC and Carolina Botanical Genetics LLC are said to have targeted the farmers with sales messages and inaccurate promises which they failed to keep.
The plaintiffs agreed to supply hemp plants grown by them to the companies for CBD extraction. The plants were claimed to be suitable for extraction, but that the company owned by Bulick took the biomass and through their negligence, ruined the crop. They blame the company for their contaminated extracts that were unable to be sold.
The group of farmers also allege that they bought seeds from Bulick the following year, only to have the seeds turn out to be useless.
“The statements made by the Defendants impugned and impeached the honesty, integrity, virtue, and reputation of plaintiffs Ford and Garrison and caused injury and damage to their good names in the community and to their professional reputations, resulting in financial loss, as well as embarrassment and humiliation,” White’s law firm stated.
In response to the allegations, Bulick accused the competence of the farmers and their ability to raise a useable crop. The group of farmers is suing for negligence and recklessness, negligent misrepresentation and defamation, as well as libel and slander. They are seeking a jury trial, damages, and attorney’s fees.

domain: news


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Withings has just broadened the reach of its smartwatches, the Activité and the Activité Pop, as the Android version of the Withings HealthMate app now integrates with the new hardware.
Withings launched the Activité line last year with a hope to bring a new look to the smartwatch space.
The Activite is one of the only smartwatches that looks good playing dumb, with the ability to track your activity like any fitness band but with a beautiful analog watch face and a leather band.
There are no screens or buttons and it isn’t clunky around the wrist like most smartwatches you see today. The Pop, a ruggedized version of the watch more suited to athletic training, also looks like a standard watch.
But on the inside, both of them are smarter than they look.
Both the Activité and the Activité Pop use Bluetooth to pass along data to the app, and the fact that Withings only offered support on iOS highly limited the smartwatch hardware in terms of potential buyers. Now, anyone with an Android smartphone or an iPhone can purchase the Activité and see a full read-out of their daily activity.
In related news, the Activité Pop (which isn’t yet available in the U.S.) will go on sale in the states later this month through Best Buy.


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Reports Show Mobile is Critical for Credit Unions (Misc News: February 17, 2012)
A report by a financial services research firm says that credit unions are lagging behind big banks in mobile banking technology and usage.
Also, a story posted at a site for digital marketers, says that explosive growth of mobile devices – particularly the startling quick acceptance of iPads and other tablets – during the Christmas shopping season shows that marketers need to have a tablet strategy in 2012.
Javelin Strategy & Research found that only 15 percent of credit union members currently use mobile services, compared to 37 percent of the customers at big banks. Some predict that by 2016 more than half of consumers will do their banking via smartphone or tablet and Javelin cautions that credit unions risk losing current members and failing to attract new ones if they don’t build their mobile capabilities.
“Mobile banking users are young. Wealthy. And mobile banking is the future,” Mary Monahan, author of the study and executive vice president and research director for mobile, told CU Times.
“Younger customers are gravitating to big banks because they offer the mobile services they want,” Monahan said.
Monahan said credit unions need to offer text banking and mobile banking. Some strategies call for offering both a mobile-optimized site and an app, while others – including CU Solutions Group, an MCUL affiliate – are just focusing on mobile-optimized sites.
The report says that more than twice as many consumers at the nation’s giant banks are using mobile banking than are those at credit unions. It says that at the nation’s four giant banks, 37 percent used mobile banking in the preceding 90 days compared to 22 percent at midsized and regional banks and just 14 percent of credit union members. Ninety-two percent of the 25 largest banks now offer mobile banking.
Click here to learn more about the report.
Econsultancy.com, the site geared for digital marketers said in its report that 14 percent of all respondents to its survey indicated that they used an iPad or other tablet to make a purchase during the holiday season. That means that in just 18 months since the first iPad went on sale, tablets nearly equaled mobile phones for online shopping use.


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The delayed reopening of hospitality will cost the sector £9bn, bosses have warned, as MPs demanded the Chancellor ramp up support for businesses at the Budget on Wednesday.
In a letter sent to Rishi Sunak, a group of 80 MPs warned that pubs, restaurants and hotels have been “ravaged” by the coronavirus crisis and urged the Chancellor to invest in the sector to support the recovery.
New figures by trade body UKHospitality revealed that the delayed reopening of businesses would cost £9bn in lost sales and other costs compared with reopening from April 1 and lifting all restrictions by June 21.
Under the PM’s roadmap out of lockdown, pubs and restaurants in England could be allowed to serve customers outside from as early as April 12 but will have to wait until May 17 to reopen indoors. Hotels and B&Bs will also be required to wait until May to reopen.
UKHospitality warned the staggered reopening plan puts at risk a further 99,000 jobs unless the Government’s furlough scheme is extended beyond April. The sector has lost an estimated 660,000 jobs since the crisis hit.
The Treasury has already confirmed the Budget will include a £5bn scheme to provide grants of up to £18,000 for high street and hospitality firms. However, the all-party parliamentary group for hospitality and tourism called on Mr Sunak to also extend the temporary VAT cut for a further year and to apply the relief to alcoholic drinks sold on-premise, as well as extending it to the broader leisure sector and weddings.
They urged Mr Sunak to replace the scrapped job retention bonus, extend business rates relief and introduce improved loan repayment terms and HMRC tax deferrals.
“These sectors have proved historically, and even in the last twelve months, that they can drive economic growth,” the letter said.
“Following the last financial crisis, hospitality drove the ‘jobs miracle’ boosting its workforce by half a million in a decade.”
It came as a group of almost 400 firms called for Mr Sunak to scrap repayments on Government-backed loans to prevent a wave of insolvencies.
In an open letter last week, business leaders urged the Chancellor to write off debt accumulated by small and medium-sized firms that took on business interruption loans and bounce back loans. It estimates the cost of writing off loan repayments would cost the Treasury roughly £68bn.
“SMEs need a lifeline and writing off Government-backed loans would give companies the best possible opportunity to keep trading long into the future,” it read.
It comes despite Mr Sunak recently extending the repayment time for the 1.4m small firms who took on bounce back loans to 10 years, rather than six, reducing monthly payments which are due to start in May. Businesses can also choose to make interest-only payments for six months, or pause repayments for up to six months.


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Advanced connectivity has already spurred a major evolution in retail, from e-commerce to analytics and automation-driven efficiency improvements in forecasting and inventory management. Yet with large-scale online pioneers (such as Amazon) dominating markets, retailers aiming to stay relevant will need to embrace a much bolder transformation.
Razor-thin margins have typically made the industry hesitant to launch big, long-term bets on technology, opting instead for limited-scope investments that promise a return in less than three years. But the payoff from a large-scale implementation of advanced connectivity could be significant. Research by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity (MCAC) suggests that deployments of such technologies in retail could unlock $420 billion to $700 billion in new GDP value by 2030.
The most promising opportunities in which to reap these rewards lie in capturing data and analyzing it in real time, with a high degree of reliability and security. Such advances are key to an industry that needs to provide the kind of convenience and personalized shopping experience e-commerce customers have come to expect. Three use case types in particular illustrate the potential value at stake.
End-to-end product visibility: Better visibility across the supply chain gained with use of trackers, active RFIDs, weight sensors, computer vision, and other technologies can help retailers more successfully manage inventory at the product level. This should improve warehouse operations, reduce stock-outs, and generate valuable customer data. Deployed at scale, this could deliver $100 billion to $160 billion in cost savings and additional revenues of between $60 billion to $100 billion.
Frictionless in-store experience: Artificial intelligence (AI) and geofencing can direct shoppers to products they want by remembering their preferences, while augmented reality can help them see exactly how a product performs. RFID scanners, payment beacons, trackers, AI, and machine learning could eliminate checkout, allowing consumers to pay for merchandise in-store as easily as they do online. These applications could reduce costs by $150 billion to $250 billion.
Enhanced personalization: Personalization can increase sales by 15 to 20 percent, but fewer than 10 percent of retailers are using digital strategies to personalize their customers’ shopping experience, according to a recent McKinsey survey. Algorithms can use data collected across channels to deliver personalized promotions in real time, while AI can give sales associates customer insights to make highly targeted product recommendations. Such tactics could add $230 billion to $400 billion in revenues.
Making the effort to implement these kinds of use cases is critical for all retailers to remain relevant and competitive, but not all are positioned to benefit equally. Retail is rapidly being stratified into three different categories, with varying levels of capital and capabilities (exhibit). So while these use cases should help large traditional retailers keep pace with e-commerce giants, they could well widen the gap between both of these groups and relatively smaller industry players.
Large e-commerce players, for instance, have the scale and financial capacity to integrate and support use of cutting-edge technologies in their operations, segmenting customers at an increasingly granular level. Large traditional retailers are similarly well suited to take advantage of data capture and applications, though they would need to develop (or buy) a stronger technology backbone and new capabilities such as analytics. Smaller players, however, lack the scale and capital needed to fully benefit from enhanced technology, though they can deploy off-the-shelf solutions.
Furthermore, advanced connectivity and modernized platforms offer the opportunity for larger players to optimize their end-to-end supply chain and participate in the wider ecosystem, integrating parts of their services into partnerships with other parties, such as online players or other non-competing consumer companies.
One factor that should help the whole range of retailers take this technological leap in the next decade is the falling costs of the technologies themselves. Prices are expected to continue to decline for key enabling technologies such as sensors and RFID trackers, cloud storage capacity and computing power, and AI and analytics, strengthening the case for a more ambitious investment than the industry has typically made.
And this kind of shift is critical. The approach the industry has embraced up to now, investing primarily in legacy technologies and testing new initiatives slowly in pilots, will likely not deliver on the full potential of advanced connectivity. Use cases need to be rolled out across the board, from distribution centers to stockrooms and checkout, not just at one point in the value chain. This will require comprehensive implementation and investment at the company or group level, rather than the siloed approach retailers traditionally use to make investments.
The obstacles may sound daunting, but given the current competitive situation in which retailers find themselves, they have less to lose, and everything to gain, by making a large-scale bet on advanced connectivity.
This post, part of an ongoing series, was adapted from the recent MGI/MCAC discussion paper, Connected world: An evolution in connectivity beyond the 5G revolution.
Sign up here to receive updates on the latest research and insights from the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity.


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Purchases through the Facebook messaging application are getting closer. WhatsApp announces the launch of its purchase button for business accounts.
“Today, more than 175 million people send messages to a WhatsApp Business account every day, and more than 40 million people see a business catalog per month,” says WhatsApp from its statement.
Placing an order or agreeing on terms of services is already possible from this application. For many businesses, it is a tool to maintain contact with their customers. The possibility of making payments on WhatsApp with this new button reinforces the idea that this application is not only for communicating with friends and family.
This new button currently serves more as quick access to the shops’ catalogs than as a payment system, but this is the ultimate goal. For this, it remains to unify the online payment system in all accounts.
In this video, we can see how the new great bet of WhatsApp works. Customers can consult their doubts about the product they are interested in and confirm the shipping method more directly. Very similar to when we call restaurants or stores while we see the catalog on the web.
Online shopping is increasingly important to sustain a business that is drowning with new sanitary measures. This is reinforcing the business of large e-commerce companies, which WhatsApp wants to join.
With this system, small businesses such as bookstores or clothing stores can have a direct way of selling to their most frequent customers. They can do this without the need to maintain an elaborate website. For this, it is only necessary for each business to activate a WhatsApp Business account. They should also update their client catalog.


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A 39-year-old Quinte West man has been sentenced to a month in jail after pleading guilty to a theft charge and two charges of breach of probation.
Shawn Bowen was arrested April 7 after a shoplifting complaint from a Quinte West retailer.
Quinte West laid the charges after studying video surveillance.
He was already under court orders to not visit the store in question.
Bowen was sentenced to 30 days in jail, on top of six days pre-sentence custody.
Other charges were withdrawn.


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In researching my article on school vending for the May Automatic Merchandiser, I came across a situation that demonstrates the important role that today’s versatile vending machines are playing in people’s lives, particularly young people. I couldn’t help but wonder how many vending industry members recognize the difference their industry can make.
I also wondered if there isn’t some way vending operators can take advantage of the growing interest in vending among both students and school officials.
The article on school vending in the May Automatic Merchandiser reports that foodservice directors are finding vending machines helpful in promoting nutrition. In the course of my research, I learned about a school where a student, not the staff, got the ball rolling to bring a healthy vending machine to the school.
Crystal Suiter, a student at Madelia High School in Madelia, Minn., discovered the need for a vending machine after she surveyed the student body while campaigning for student council president. The school once had vending machines, but removed them over health concerns. The kids missed having the convenience of a vending machine.
Based on the survey results, Suiter promised a healthy vending machine if she were elected. After being elected, she researched school vending on the Internet.
She learned what machines were available, then spearheaded a fund raising drive to buy a machine.
The machine, which is only accessible outside of meal periods, offers chips, fruit snacks, milk, juice, yogurt, apples, caramel dip and sandwiches. It does an average $86 per day in sales with a gross profit margin of 55 percent.
The machine, a U-Select-It Alpine ST 5000, has not only been a source of healthy refreshments for kids. It has been an educational experience. The kids have learned how to read and understand nutrition labels on food.
Students also manage the machine. They have learned how to set up accounts with food purveyors and work with all the different businesses involved.
Kids are also intrigued by the machine’s technology. They were interested to learn they can add a finger scanner, a card reader and even add a frozen satellite.
All of this came about because a student wanted to do something to improve her fellow students’ lives.
When I learned about this situation at Madelia High School, it reinforced the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) research last year that reported how receptive young people are to vending. It also reminded me of the positive response by thousands of young people to NAMA’s Gratitude Tours.
Are we as an industry aware of the ways our products and services can change people’s lives? Are we as an industry doing everything we can to make vending machines available to schools?


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It has long been theorized that concepts could not be fully understood by a members of a culture unless that culture had a word for them. However, according to new research published in the American Psychological Association journal Emotion, it appears that people do not need to be able to name an emotion in order to understand it.
Many of the products aimed at holiday shoppers this year are inspired by popular comic books. Most of these items, including toys, games, accessories and clothing, feature superheroes with names that parents will recognize from their own childhoods. According to new research from the University of Cambridge, however, these familiar characters may bear little resemblance to the wholesome heroes whose adventures filled the comic books of a generation ago.
Even in politics, good looks open a lot of doors. A study conducted by the University of Haifa found that the amount of television coverage a member of congress gets is directly proportional to how attractive he or she is perceived to be.
In the center of the political limelight is 2012 Presidential Candidate Herman Cain as he fights off allegations of past sexual infidelity and sexual harassment. The story has leaked out bit by bit, with new accusers coming from different directions and casting even more of a negative shadow on Cain. In his defense, Cain has turned around and pointed a finger at Texan rival Governor Rick Perry claiming that he is conducting a smear campaign against him to try to whittle his chances of receiving the GOP nomination presidency.


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The Designer Changing Fashion—and Rugs, Luggage, and Bottled Water, Too
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Over the summer, Chicago was transformed into a style nerve center—Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus unveiled streetwear displays in their windows, an Apple store held a series of design labs, and the Museum of Streetwear opened a pop-up shop. The activity was all clustered around “Figures of Speech,” an exhibition about influential designer Virgil Abloh at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
More than 100,000 visitors, most of them young, have flocked to see a dress Abloh designed for Beyoncé, a belt he made for A$AP Rocky, and an embossing plate he created for Jay-Z and Kanye West’s collaborative album Watch the Throne. Unreleased prototypes of other products are shown off near rainbow T-shirts designed for Louis Vuitton, where Abloh was named men’s artistic director a year ago.
Abloh’s evolution from the son of a seamstress to one of the hottest names in fashion has brands clamoring to collaborate with him and earn his stamp of approval. This year alone he’s had a hand in at least eight brand partnerships. (By comparison, Louis Vuitton’s head of womenswear has done one in the same time frame.)
On June 27 he dropped a shoe with Nike; a week before that, a collection of furniture and home decor with Swiss company Vitra International AG made its debut at Art Basel. In May, Abloh released a set of rugs with Ikea of Sweden AB and a limited-edition water bottle for Evian. In April he created a small collection for Saks, which featured yellow Gore-Tex separates and deconstructed denim.
“I view a great collaboration as a great conversation,” Abloh says. “To me it’s a metaphor and a modern way of working. New, unpredictable, constructive ideas come from conversation.”
The designer grew up outside Chicago in a middle-class neighborhood in Rockford, Ill., raised by Ghanaian immigrant parents. After earning degrees at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the Illinois Institute of Technology, he interned at Fendi in Rome, where he impressed Michael Burke, current chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton. Abloh introduced his first brand, Pyrex Vision, in 2012. It featured screen-printed T-shirts, but he shuttered the project after a year and rebranded it as Off-White, the label that would earn him international recognition.
Over the past six months, prices for Abloh’s products have skyrocketed on resale marketplace StockX. The 2017 Off-White Chicago Jordan 1 sneakers have increased in resale value by $900 and today sell for as much as $5,000; the 2018 Off-White Jordan 1s have risen $700. Items in the Virgil x MCA collection are reselling for 40% above their retail prices. Jesse Einhorn, StockX’s data content director, says the Chicago takeover has accelerated this surge in interest for Abloh’s goods. “Overall, demand for Virgil-associated products is stronger than ever,” he says.
The sheer number of collaborations hasn’t damped enthusiasm. In the past two years, he’s released a see-through luggage collection with Rimowa, a bottle of rosé Champagne with Moët & Chandon, a sweatsuit that looks like medical scrubs for Equinox, and a series for Nike that reimagined 10 of its most famous shoes. He’s also designed a cafe for Le Bon Marché and costumes for the New York City Ballet. He’s made sunglasses for Warby Parker, fragrance and skin-care products for Byredo, boots for Timberland, sweatshirts for Champion, watches for Braun, weather gear for Gore-Tex, swimming trunks for Vilebrequin, shirts for Kith, and a black tutu for Serena Williams.
In August, global luxury marketplace Farfetch Ltd. acquired New Guards Group, the parent company of Off-White, for $675 million. Farfetch CEO José Neves called Off-White and other newly acquired labels, including Palm Angels and Heron Preston (which Abloh has also worked with), the “brands of the future.”
Abloh’s rise has been fueled at least in part by an uncanny ability to create bridges with fans. Jeff Carvalho, managing director of streetwear site Highsnobiety, says Abloh has allowed fashion consumers to be a part of his world, letting them in closer than anyone else before. He answers an inordinately high number of direct messages on Instagram and even responds to tagged photos.
“I don’t think he’s become so much of a design celebrity as much as he’s become an important figure for young creatives that are looking to figure out how to make it,” Carvalho says. “He’s one of us.”
Abloh’s show at the Museum of Contemporary Art (on view until Sept. 22) is on track to set an attendance record, besting totals from the likes of Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. And Chicago seems to be thirsty for more streetwear. Sneaker reseller Stadium Goods—which received a $250 million infusion from Farfetch in December—will open a store near the museum. The rapper Drake, too, will set up a Windy City shop for his own streetwear brand in the No. 9 Walton building, home to Citadel founder Ken Griffin.
Abloh’s new fall collection for Louis Vuitton features clothes in muted neutrals and bags with colorful stripes. Up next are three more shoes with Nike that are rumored to hit shelves in September.
One Year in the Life of the Ablohverse
New this fall, Abloh added bright graphic elements, such as this $3,550 Keepall Bandoulière 50, to the brand’s signature silhouettes.
NIKE AIR ZOOM TERRA KIGER 5
In June, Abloh dropped this part of a collection dubbed Athletes in Progress, which featured sneakers tested by 800-meter champion Caster Semenya.
This “hacked” version of Jean Prouvé’s Antony armchair in orange lacquer made its debut at Art Basel in June. Another collection will travel to the U.S. this fall.
For his “Figures of Speech” exhibition, Abloh created two shirts. This one is reselling for more than 40% above its retail price on site StockX.
The French brand’s $300 swimming trunks got a dose of the street in June with an Off-White collaboration that included floral prints and neon colors.
A collection of rugs for the Swedish furniture brand featured Abloh’s trademark text set off with quotation marks. Released in May, it’s sold out, but a new line is due this November in the U.S.
After assuming the role of creative adviser for sustainable design at the bottled-water brand, Abloh dropped this collaboration with hydration startup Soma during New York Fashion Week in May.
—Additional reporting by Claire Ballentine
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at firstname.lastname@example.org, James Gaddy
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


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A new group of owners couldn't resurrect Burnside's Guild Public House — according to an online announcement, the spot has shuttered for the second time in nine months. Per a message on the official Facebook page, owners Justin Akins (the owner of Vintage Cocktail Bar), Kenny Hill (of Trebol), and Daniel Roy (partner/self-proclaimed beer nerd) write: "On behalf of the owners and bartenders at The Guild I would like to thank you for your patronage. Effective immediately The Guild is closed."
The Guild originally opened in January 2011 as a project by former politician Jesse Cornett; when Cornett closed up shop eight months later, Akins, Hill, and Roy took over the concept and revamped the menu to include whiskey-centric cocktails and Hill's taco-focused pub grub.
And with the quick demise of the Guild 2.0, cue those "cursed space" distinctions. Prior to Cornett's version of the Guild, it housed the short-lived Report Lounge; before that, it was the velvet-roped Chesterfield. The building's most high-profile shutter, chef Leather Storrs' Rocket, called it quits one floor up in 2008, though the building's biggest success story is in Storrs' top-floor Noble Rot, which recently celebrated its 11th anniversary.


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Sierra, a startup led by former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor and former head of Google Labs Clay Bavor, is placing its bets on conversational AI agents and hoping to transform the way we interact with consumer brands.
As the traditional approaches to enhancing digital customer interactions have yielded mixed results, Sierra envisions AI agents as the next frontier, comparable to the transformative impact of websites and mobile apps.
The core belief at Sierra is that conversational AI will emerge as the dominant mode of interaction with brands, transcending conventional customer service applications to encompass all facets of the customer experience.
The founders propose a concept where users can input free-form questions and requests into a search-style box, prompting AI agents to connect with transactional systems for seamless execution, such as order inquiries or delivery rescheduling.
Despite acknowledging the challenges of interfacing with older systems, Sierra recognizes the potential of APIs.
However, the heightened value of AI in customer-facing scenarios also brings elevated risks, notably in brand misrepresentation and hallucination issues.
Sierra’s response to these challenges involves an innovative approach based on autonomous agents, utilizing multiple models, including a supervisory one, to ensure response quality and address hallucination problems.
While facing stiff competition from established players, Sierra’s well-capitalized status and the unique approach of Taylor and Bavor attract substantial investments.
Taylor, who sits on the board of OpenAI, says he does not believe his new company competes with ChatGPT but the jury is still out on this.
Sierra’s journey mirrors the broader challenge of proving the consistency and scalability of AI solutions in the dynamic realm of customer interactions.NEXT: Tribunal Holds Air Canada Responsible For AI Chatbot Misleading A Client


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Report: Ratings for Streaming Originals Down to Start 2023; Can Streamers Afford to be Seasonal in Age of Cycling?
Original programming is key for any streaming service. Originals help streamers attract new users and to keep the subscribers that they already have, especially if the shows are of good quality and/or come from established IPs. Media companies know this quite well, which is why providers like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are so focused on developing new original series and movies based on popular franchises that they already own.
So far in 2023, however, ratings for original series have been down across the streaming industry. A report from Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw indicates that year-over-year ratings for popular streaming originals have fallen around 8%. In the first seven days of February, the top 10 original streaming shows drew a smaller audience than at any point since December 2021.
Shows like Peacock’s “Poker Face” and Prime Video’s “Jack Ryan” are helping to keep the market plugging along, but mega-hits have been few and far between in recent weeks. “The Last of Us” doesn’t technically count, since it appears on the linear HBO channel at the same time it streams on HBO Max every Sunday. The debut of the new season of “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ will assuredly help ratings improve, but as streamers industry-wide slow down their content spends, users might want to get used to a more seasonal, cyclical approach to the release of new series.
But is that really the best path forward for the industry? A recent survey found that 64% of people have signed up for a streaming service solely to watch a single show. The data shows that only 17% of those users cancel the service after finishing that series, but that trend could be changing as the streaming market reaches its saturation point.
Data from a February Samba TV report shows that 69% of American streaming customers are thinking about signing up for a service to watch a single show, then canceling their subscription before being billed for another month. This behavior is called cycling, and it shows why streamers have to be careful about spacing out popular original series too much. On-demand video providers can’t afford to move too closely to live TV streaming services that see big waves of new users during football season, then a rash of cancelations after it ends. Similarly, the traditional linear TV seasonal schedule saw new seasons launch in the fall and wrap up toward the tail-end of summer. Over time, with the advent of cable, more shows launched in early winter, but the summer was always a slow period for TV; streaming services likely can’t afford to take three months off from releasing engaging content.
However, that also doesn’t mean that streaming services can afford to turn out a new, major hit original series every month. Netflix’s bosses might want to release a “Squid Game” or “Wednesday” every week, but the data from Bloomberg highlights the importance of streaming services having a big library of archival content to fall back on. Creating hit originals is expensive, and there are more places to see new shows than ever before, so streamers have to be strategic with their new release schedules.
The risk of cycling ensures that on-demand streaming won’t adopt the seasonal patterns of live TV, despite the expense of keeping content coming all year. The first couple of months of 2023 may have seen a slowdown in new original streaming releases, but users shouldn’t expect to see a trend of streamers only releasing new series at specific times of the year.
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Netflix offers four plans — on 2 device in HD with their “Standard with Ads” ($6.99) plan, on 1 device in SD with their “Basic” ($9.99) plan, on 2 devices in HD with their “Standard” ($15.49) plan, and 4 devices in up to 4K on their “Premium” ($19.99) plan.
Netflix spends more money on content than any other streaming service meaning that you get more value for the monthly fee.


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After 3 of these monster R129 Mercedes showed up this past summer, we got a tip for another one on eBay from Portland, Oregon. It’s…8 Comments
Warning!We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.
Today hearing of a Mercedes pushing 500 horsepower, while not really yawn factor, is certainly not surprising. AMG has done an amazing job generating massive…4 Comments
While Mercedes and its associated high end tuners went through a stage recently of getting huge horsepower numbers from supercharged and turbo cars, there is…3 Comments


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Texas Gov. Rick Perry slams California's business climate in a new radio ad airing this week across the state.
He says in the ad that building a business in California is "next to impossible." And the solution he has for California businesses is clear: "come check out Texas."
Perry says businesses should flee the supposedly not-so-Golden State for the Lone Star State, where there are "low taxes, sensible regulations and [a] fair legal system" (including roadblocks to suing a business when someone is injured or killed). Listen to the ad here.
The ads will air in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, the Inland Empire and San Diego. They are paid for by Texas One, "a public-private partnership that markets Texas nationally and internationally as a prime business destination."
This is not the first time Perry has sought to poach businesses from California.
He has made several scouting trips and has written letters to California companies, as have representatives from other states during California's budget crisis, CNN reports. Perry noted that the cost of doing business in California is 6.3 percent above the national average and Texas' is 4.6 percent below it, partially because the state has no state income tax and a low business tax cut.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has shot back. In an interview on Marketplace Morning Report last month, Brown criticized Texas for its relatively large percentage of people working at or below the minimum wage.
Brown also said that he expects California's $96.7-billion general fund to end next year with a surplus thanks to cuts and taxes in his new budget plan.
UPDATE: Gov. Brown, at a business event in Sacramento Tuesday (see video above), said that Gov. Perry's ad is "barely a fart."
"It's not a serious story, guys," he said. "It's not a burp. It's barely a fart."
"A $26,000 radio buy is the smallest entry into the media market of California," he said. "Everybody's coming [to California]. The Brits are here, trying to figure out how to cooperate and be a part of our media, Internet, digital. Look, when you've got something good, people want to be here."
HuffPost received the following response from Gov. Brown's Office of Business and Economic Development on Monday:
“I can understand why Rick Perry is interested in California. We were the national jobs leader for most of the last year with 257,000 new private sector jobs,” said Kish Rajan, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. "But business relocations only account for 0.03 percent of annual job losses in California. At that rate of growth, it would take 20 years to lose just 1 percent of our businesses to relocation. The reports show that no state has ever poached their way to long-term prosperity. Real job creation comes from California’s history as a national leader in start-ups and the expansion of homegrown businesses.”
Poaching doesn’t work. This is something so many governors have done before and with the same ineffective results. One of the only real studies that’s ever been done on this, by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), called it insignificant. During the two years of the highest departures in the study, California lost just 0.05 percent of the state’s total establishments. At that rate, it would take 20 years for California to lose just one percent of its business establishments due to out-of-state relocation.
And if you take a look at the new report from Good Jobs First in Washington D.C., you’ll see how little it actually got our visiting governor. In the first seven years of Perry’s administration, Texas got an annual gain of 0.03 percent in jobs gained from relocation. Even if you double that rate, it would still be an extremely small impact. So basically the report says that Texas officials should spend 99.97 percent of their time and money on everything else but chasing other state’s jobs.
There have been several high-profile company expansions this year including:
1) Samsung, which opened a major research-and-develoment facility in San Jose
2) Sutter, which built a new health care facility in Roseville that will employ over 1000 people
3) Amazon, which announced three distribution centers across the state
4) Caterpillar, which recently opened a 400,000 square-foot distribution center in Kern County to support a resurgent construction market which has grown by 4.4 percent this year.


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I Elon Musk’s tweets have taken center stage at the financial fraud trial in which several Tesla investors seek compensation, through a class action. According to the indictment, “his lies have caused the loss of millions and millions of dollars to ordinary people”. While for the defense, his tweets only prove “a wrong choice of words” che basically “didn’t matter”.
Elon Musk and his tweets on trial for financial fraud
The pen may not be sharper than a sword, but a smartphone keyboard may have caused it loss of several million dollars. At least that’s what the lawyer claims Nicholas Porrittrepresenting several Tesla investors who are taking the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, to court.
It all begins in 2018, when Musk seemed intent on privatizing Tesla, buying all market shares. The CEO had tweeted “Considering privatizing Tesla at $420. Find the funds“. These last words allegedly cost several investors millions of dollars, according to the indictment.
“No his lies they caused ordinary people, like Glen Littleton, to lose millions and millions of dollars,” Porritt explains. And for this it is “critical that he – and his company – is held responsible”.
According to Porritt, the tweet is particularly guilty because in reality the research of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) would have shown that there were no real plans to privatize the company. And Musk didn’t even notify Tesla’s board of directors before tweeting.
What is the value of a tweet?
If the prosecution wants to use a tweet as evidence, the defense, led by attorney Alex Spiro, claims the exact opposite. First, he explains that Musk’s statement was honest: there was a privatization project underway. And his “funding secured” didn’t mean that he raised the funds, just that financial coverage “wouldn’t have been a problem”. Musk would simply have chosen the words wrong.
And more generally, Spiro doesn’t think Elon Musk’s tweets have legal value in a financial fraud trial. “These tweets are informal, sporadic thoughts”. So while Musk used terms that implied an ongoing takeover process, in reality they were little more than a “joke” and that “it doesn’t matter.”
According to Musk’s attorney, “Twitter haikus don’t move the market. THE CEOs who know how to achieve what they decide to pursue, satisfying their own considerations: this moves the market”.
After the opening speeches by the attorneys, the remainder of the first day of the trial featured testimony from Glenn Littletona 71-year-old Kansas City investor who sold his Tesla shares after reading Musk’s tweet.
“That’s the tweet that started it all,” Littleton explains. According to which that “found the funds” written by Musk has “made privatization more definitive, completely final in my mind.” Littleton, che owns several Teslas and continues to believe in the company, he would have sold the shares of the company and now hopes to “recover the losses that were incurred by that tweet”.
Tesla and Musk stand to lose billions of dollars in settlements if they lose the lawsuit. The judge will have to consider whether Musk has duped investors or not with that tweet: We will keep you posted on the outcome of this lawsuit.


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Drinking strong coffee before exercising can help you burn more fat. Photo credit: Shutterstock / Petrovich Nataliya
A small, tight espresso before you run? But what a funny idea is that! A new study from Spain claims that drinking strong coffee before a workout would help burn more fat.
This study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, was carried out by scientists from the Department of Physiology at the University of Granada (UGR). Sports and coffee lovers, did you think the two weren’t compatible? Well, this study says the opposite … Do a little “squeeze” before your aerobics session, it will be even more beneficial for your accumulated fat!
Therefore, if we are to believe this study, you should drink a cup of strong espresso-style coffee (3 mg / kg) about half an hour before your workout! This would significantly increase the rate of fat burning regardless of the type of sport being played. If you also exercise in the afternoon, the effect of caffeine on fat is even greater.
This study therefore rotates the throat following the recommendations of exercise in the morning on an empty stomach to increase fat oxidation. Because scientists think they don’t know whether this increase is due to lack of food or exercise.
The test in detail
To conduct this study, 15 men performed 4 stress tests seven days apart. Some ingested coffee at 3 mg / kg caffeine, others a placebo liquid at 8 a.m. and then at 5 p.m. The rate of oxidation was then measured on each of the subjects. And the results showed that those who drank coffee increased fat burning during exercise.
Athletes who drank coffee increased fat burning during exercise. Photo Credit: Shutterstock / EZ-Stock Studio
This was not seen in subjects who took placebo coffee. This study would therefore prove that caffeine enables an increase in the oxidation of fats. However, be careful, as with any caffeinated beverage, coffee should be consumed in moderation. All you have to do is pause your exercise classes, preferably in the afternoon after a good coffee … but no pastries to accompany it!


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By Natalie Reilly
Bargain clothing website Wish.com seems to not understand women. We say this with love. How else to explain their advertisement for plus-size tights using - assume the brace position - thin women who are stretching the tights out?
That's right. Instead of opting for a plus-size model to show how the stockings might look on another plus-size person, Wish.com instead opted for thin women to show just how roomy the stockings were on them by stretching them up over their heads, or out, beside their thigh. The advertising reads almost like one of those weight loss "After" photos where a person stands in one leg of their jeans. Only, it's not. It's aimed at ordinary women. Well, women who want "sexy, shaping" stockings.
Worse, (relatively speaking) is the fact that these photos were stolen from another website, which originally used the photos to advertise stretchy tights. Not -- repeat -- not how easily a svelte woman might fit into a plus-size piece of clothing.
The decision to steal an ad from another website becomes even more questionable when you consider that wish.com, which links Chinese manufactures straight to online shoppers, is second only to Amazon in mobile sales of everything from gadgets to clothes. After launching in 2011, it's now worth close to $4 billion.
The backlash was swift, as you might imagine.
This is not the first time Wish.com have offended women. In March last year, the website advertised several items of clothing for plus-size women using descriptors such as "fat" and "fatter". After complaints were made, the offensive words were changed, but still. Who hopes to sell to women by calling them fat? A more important question might be, who exactly is writing the copy over at wish.com?


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LAKEVILLE, Mass. -- The grower-owners of juice maker Ocean Spray Inc. will vote later this month on a bid by PepsiCo Inc. to buy a stake in the cooperative, reported the Associated Press.
The bid has been discussed privately by Ocean Spray and Pepsi officials and the specifics are unknown. The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Mass., reported the deal has been characterized as anything from a minority investment to a 50-50 split.
Ocean Spray's 800 cranberry and 125 grapefruit grower-owners will vote on Pepsi's bid in a non-binding referendum during the week of May 23, said Chris Phillips, an Ocean Spray spokesman.
The referendum asks the shareholders to pick between two options: pursuing a branded-company joint venture with Pepsi, or remaining independent. If a majority of growers vote in favor of a venture with Pepsi, Ocean Spray will work on a final deal that would be put to growers in a binding vote late this summer, Phillips said.
If grower-owners reject a Pepsi venture, Ocean Spray's board of directors has agreed to cease all joint venture discussions with potential financial partners and determine its own future course, Phillips added.
Ocean Spray's small cooperative of cranberry farmers has struggled to compete against its main rivals in the juice business, Tropicana and Minute Maid, which are owned by Pepsi and Coca-Cola, respectively.
While it's tough to compete with the juice giants, if the deal happens, Pepsi may eventually swallow Ocean Spray, said one owner-grower. "The fear is that Pepsi would control you," the grower told the Standard-Times. "We don't know if Pepsi would just move in with their entire management team. There's fear that Pepsi would eventually buy out Ocean Spray."
Ocean Spray and Pepsi had a prior business relationship that ended acrimoniously.
Pepsi distributed Ocean Spray juices to convenience stores in the 1990s, but Ocean Spray sued Pepsi in 1998, aiming to block Pepsi from selling Tropicana cranberry juice in convenience stores, according to the AP.


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Apple's shares hit new record above $700 after it takes massive preorders for the iPhone 5
Apple's share price topped a record £701 today after it revealed the iPhone 5 was on course to become the biggest selling gadget in its history - with 2million preorders placed in just 24 hours last Friday.
The stock was down 83 cents at $698.95 in early trading, but this was after hitting an all-time peak just after the opening bell on Wall Street.
Apple's market capitalisation of close to $655billion is the highest ever achieved by a company in cash terms - beating Microsoft's previous record. However, when it is adjusted for inflation Microsoft's record set in 1999 still stands.
The initial batch of iPhone 5 preorders sold out in just an hour, with Apple admitting it had to push back delivery dates for many users.
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Apple's iPhone 5, which goes on sale on Friday. Today the firm said it received over TWO million orders in just 24 hours.
Today it admitted the phone, revealed last week after months of speculation, sold DOUBLE the amount of the iPhone 4S, the firm's previous biggest seller in the initial 24-hour period.
'Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers on September 21, many are scheduled to be delivered in October,' the firm said today.
'iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,' said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
'iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.'
Fans have already begun queuing for the handset in New York and London, with thousands expected to line the streets to be among the first to own the handset.
When iPhone 5 finally goes on sale later this week, analysts predict lines as long as the record queues seen for the iPhone's debut in 2007.
'It will be a madhouse,' said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.
The new handset has a larger, 4 inch screen and also runs a new version of iOS, the firm's software.
It also dumps Google's maps service for a new, in house Apple version, and also removes the YouTube app from the phone's preinstalled apps in a move to counter Google's Android phone software.
FIRST LOOK: MailOnline tests the iPhone 5
Maps scored highly in Mark's first look
After the announcement, MailOnline technology editor Mark Prigg was given brief access to a device. He said:
The first thing that strikes you about the iPhone 5 when you pick it up is that despite being larger and packing more power, it feels far more comfortable in the hand than any other phone on the market.
The incredibly thin design and light weight make a vast difference, and while the screen is bigger at 4 inches, it is still a phone that can comfortably fit into any pocket.
The dual tone back also comes into play, making it ‘grippier’ than previous iPhones, and a handset you’re unlikely to drop.
Elsewhere on the phone’s exterior the headphone jack has been moved to the bottom of the device, and there’s the new, smaller dock connector.
Switch the phone on, and the new version of iOS is immediately snappier than in previous versions thanks to the new chip powering the handset.
The most noticeable change is in the maps app, and it looks incredible - although we were unable to test just how good its coverage is, which will be key to its success.
The new 3D flyover feature is particularly impressive, and central London looks amazing, with Big Ben and other monuments in 3D you can ‘fly’ over.
The new 'satnav' feature also looked impressive, something which has been sorely lacking in previous versions of iOS.
All of iOS has been given a polish, and it shows - apps are faster and snappier (although we were unable to test how 'old' apps look on the new bigger screen).
Video playback is superb on the 4 inch widescreen display, and colours are vivid, with the touchscreen far ‘snappier’ than in previous versions.
However, there is no one revolutionary feature to the iPhone 5 - the bigger screen being the most instantly noticeable.
But don’t let that put you off, as every part of the handset has been improved, and it shows.
It is an evolution rather than a revolution, but this is without doubt the best phone Apple has ever produced, and it puts clear water between Apple and its rivals.
At the launch event the firm also showed off a 3D flyover feature allowing people to virtually fly over an area, and showed off the software 'flying' over Big Ben in London.
iPOD ALSO GETS A REFRESH
Apple also revealed a new range of its iPod music players.
‘The iPod touch is the world’s most popular music player, and the world’s most popular games player,’ said Greg Joswiak of Apple.
The new iPod touch has a 4inch screen similar to the iPhone, and is 6.1mm thin, weighing 88 grams.
The new Nano, which resembles a tiny iPhone, is 5mm thin, and is available in seven colours and also has Apple’s new lightning connector.
A new app called Passbook also allows people to collect store cards, tickets and other information in a single app.
It can be used to show boarding passes on planes and for entry to concerts and sports games that support the codes.
Users can also share photo albums easily, and Apple’s speech recognition software Siri has been updated to give people sports scores, and even book restaurants.
Facebook has also been integrated into the service, allowing people to update their status via speech.
Sir Jonathan Ive, the man who designed the new phone, said: ‘When you think about your iPhone, it is the product you have with you all the time - we take changing it really seriously.
‘We want to make a much better phone.
'What makes iPhone 5 so unique if how it feels in your hand.'
Apple also gave a glimpse of the manufacturing behind the iPhone.
‘We use crystalline diamond to polish the handset,’ revealed Sir Jonathan.
‘The variance between products we measure in microns’
The handset will cost the same price as the iPhone 4S, $199 to $399 depending on size.
It will begin shipping on September 21st in US, Canada and several other countries, and customers can pre-order from this Friday.
Best in class: What the iPhone 5 needs to compete against
Samsung Galaxy S3
1.4 Ghz quad-core
Up to 62gb (+64gb with card)
Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Height - 136mm
Width - 70mm
Depth - 8.5mm
Nokia Lumia 920
Windows Phone 7.8
Height - 130mm
Width - 71mm
Depth - 11mm
800 MHz dual-core
Up to 64gb (non-expandable)
Height - 115mm
Width - 58mm
Depth - 9mm
High expectations: How the market expects the iPhone 5 to fare
The iPhone 5 is expected to be the biggest selling in Apple’s history, with an estimated 8m set to be sold.
Sales of the new iPhone could add between a quarter and a half percentage point to fourth quarter annualised growth in the U.S., according to J.P. Morgan's chief economist, Michael Feroli.
The battle for domination of the mobile market has become increasingly heated recently with Apple's competitors taking it on with a series of new products.
Nokia and Microsoft recently joined forces to launch two new phones which will run on the Windows operating system.
The Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 are the Finnish company's attempt to claw back lost ground since it lost its position as the world's biggest phonemaker to Samsung.
Online retailer Amazon recently unveiled new models of its Kindle Fire tablets, which were previously not for sale in the UK, and are seen as rivals to Apple's best-selling iPad.
It is around a year since Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S complete with voice recognition software and an A5 chip allowing it to use much faster graphics for gameplay and to download data twice as fast.
Comparing Apples with Apples: The iPhone 4S versus the iPhone 5:
Height: 115.2 mm (4.5 inches)
Width: 58.6 mm (2.31 inches)
Depth: 9.3 mm (0.37 inches)
Weight: 140 grams (4.9 ounces)
Pixel density: 326 pixels per inch
Display: 960 x 640 pixels
Services: 3G phone; music player; video player; internet browser; email
Camera: 8MP still camera and HD video camera on back. Second camera on front.
Siri: Voice controlled virtual personal assistant allows conversation with iPhone to direct it to answer questions, send texts and carry out other functions.
Built in Apps: FaceTime video calls; video editing; Safari internet browser; email; Google maps; YouTube; iTunes; App store; Newsstand; Reminders personal organiser; calendar; contacts; game centre; find my phone; calculator; weather; notes.
Processor: Dual core fast A5 chip, the same as in the iPad 2
Internal Memory: 16GB; 32GB; or 64GB
Other Memory: Purchases stored in Apple’s iCloud servers.
Battery: Standby time: Up to 200 hours; Internet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G/ up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi; Video playback: Up to 10 hours; Audio playback: Up to 40 hours.
Operating System: Apple iOS 5.
30 pin connector: To power sources and docking stations on speakers, radios and other devices.
Prices: 16GB - £499; 32GB - £599; 64GB - £699
Height: 123.8 mm (4.87 inches)
Width: 58.6 mm (2.31 inches)
Depth: 7.6 mm (0.30 inches)
Weight: 112 grams (3.95 ounces)
Pixel density: 326 per inch
Display: 1136x640 pixels
Services: 3G and superfast mobile 4G phone; music player; video player; internet browser; email.
Camera: Smaller, higher spec, faster shutter speed, panorama function. HD camera on front
Siri: Upgraded to allow spoken recommendations for films or restaurants. Possible to update Facebook status by voice command
Built in Apps: FaceTime video calls; video editing; Safari internet browser; email; Google maps replaced with Apple alternative including spoken directions; no YouTube as standard.
Processor: A6 chip said to be twice as quick as A5.
Internal Memory: 16GB; 32GB; or 64GB
Other Memory: Purchases stored in Apple’s iCloud servers
Battery: Standby up to 225 hours; Internet use up to 8 hours on 3G/4G; video playback up to 10 hours; audio playback up to 40 hours.
Operating System: Apple iOS 6
8 pin ‘lightning’ connector: to power sources and docking stations on speakers, radios and other devices. New adaptor will allow connections to existing 30 pin docking stations.
Prices: 16GB - $199; 32GB - $299; 64GB - $399
See launch here:
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With Record Store Day only a few days away (Sat. April 22) we’re happy to announce the new 2017 edition of Diggin’ Melbourne will hit the streets around April 19, and be made official with a launch party at Section 8 on Wednesday night (April 19). This year we’re thankful to Audio Technica who have assisted in production of the map and kindly donated some prizes for our launch party. We’re also teaming with Beat Magazine to publish a condensed version of the guide in the weeks Beat Magazine Record Store Day feature.
This year’s maps features some new stores in Collingwood, Fitzroy, Richmond and Belgrave. 55 stores in total and a couple of additional stores listed on the website. Get the jump on the Record Store Day crowd by getting your hands on a map and/or Beat this week. Get down to the free launch party for the chance to win a sweet pair of Audio Technica ATH-WS99 headphones plus other lucky door prizes, and enjoy top-shelf selections from Melbourne’s finest purveyors of black gold. Check the poster for details. The website also will be updated by April 20. Watch this space.


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Nationwide offers 7.7% loan to customers
Nationwide Building Society has taken on the supermarkets' personal loan offerings with a table-topping rate - but it's for existing customers only.
The right choice: well, on personal loans anyway.
The Nationwide is offering a winning rate of 7.7% on loans between £5,500 and £15,000 over five years.
However, it follows the banks' traditional practice of basing loans on 'personal pricing', which means customers are assessed on an individual basis and do not know what rate they have been offered until after they apply.
And customers must have a FlexAccount for three months before applying, into which they must pay £750 per month.
The 7.7% offer comes at a time when many people will be considering buying a new car as registrations are due this month. Personal loans are the best way to secure finance for a car purchase, as 0% finance offerings from dealers can often work out more expensive in the long run.
Nationwide, which has been dogged by criticism over its savings products of late, beats traditional heavy-hitters Tesco Personal Finance, Sainsbury's Finance, yourpersonalloan.co.uk, Marks & Spencer Money and ASDA on a loan of £7,500 over five years.
Tesco and Sainsbury are joint best-buys, offering 7.9% and open to allcomers, unlike Nationwide.
A spokeswoman for Nationwide said the society's personal pricing methods were the same employed by any bank: 'We mainly look at their credit history to see if there are any defaults or penalties.'
Personal loan rates have been on the increase over the past two years even though the Bank of England base rate has plummed to a historic low of 0.5% in recent months. A study by price comparison website Moneyfacts.co.uk in May found that potential borrowers hoping to take out a £5,000 loan over three years, the most common type of loan agreement, have been hit hardest by rising rates, with the average rate jumping from 8.6% to 12.4% over the past two years – a leap of 44%.
A This is Money analysis also found in May that the secured loans market, where the amount borrowed is secured against the customer's home, is on the demise, with only two major providers left in the market.
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Mac Studio and Studio Display were announced last week at Apple’s special “Peek Performance” event. As it is Friday in some countries on the other side of the world, customers are already getting their hands on Apple’s newest products.
Both Mac Studio and Studio Display are mainly targeted at creative professionals working with video, image, and audio editing. With Mac Studio, users can now have an Apple Silicon Mac with up to a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB of RAM, and 8TB of SSD – all combined in a machine with up to six Thunderbolt ports, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, headphone jack, two USB-A ports, and one HDMI port.
As for the Studio Display, it features an LCD panel similar to the one found in the now discontinued 27-inch iMac, which has 5K resolution, wide color gamut (DCI-P3), True Tone, and 600 nits of brightness intensity. Customers can get it with a regular stand, height-adjustable stand, or with VESA support.
While most people had to wait until this Friday to get their hands on the new products, Apple sent review units to some members of the press a few days earlier – and they have already published Mac Studio and Studio Display reviews.
Luckily, for those who pre-ordered the new Mac Studio and Studio Display last week, units are already being delivered to customers. Some users have shared images of their products on Twitter.


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Highlighting the growing importance of local SEO and mobile marketing, a new study from mobile media company JiWire found that mobile consumers are becoming more comfortable sharing their location information to gain access to relevant content.
In a survey of more than 2,800 U.S. consumers, 53 percent of respondents indicated they would share their location to find local deals and offerings on their mobile devices.
This represents a significant shift from even a few months ago, when mobile companies like Apple and Google came under fire for their use of location-tracking tools. However, as internet-connected devices become more popular, consumers seem to be realizing the advantages of having access to local information at their fingertips – a trend that marketers would be well advised to note.
According to the report, price comparison is considered the most useful tool when it comes to mobile shopping, cited by 31 percent of respondents. Additionally, 29 percent of consumers said they use mobile devices to look for promotions and sales within a mile of their location.
Smaller businesses, in particular, are recognizing the potential of a strong mobile marketing campaign. As Brafton recently reported, a new study from Borrell Associates found that 83 percent of small companies have incorporated mobile into their marketing campaigns, as the strategy has proven to be an effective way to entice consumers and drive new business.


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A Chinese border city in Northeast China's Jilin Province has stepped up efforts to increase cross-border e-commerce with Russia amid the complex and severe external environment facing both China and Russia.
JD.com unveiled cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park Smart Storage Center in Heihe, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on May 21, 2018 (File photo: VCG)
The Hunchun cross-border e-commerce supervision center and public services platforms were put into use on Monday, local news site hunchunnet.com reported.
On that day, Chinese goods worth $128,000 bought by Russians via e-commerce platforms were transported to Russia. This marked the start of Hunchun's cross-border e-commerce trade.
Jilin's exports via cross-border e-commerce have grown fast, standing at 1.04 billion yuan ($151 million) in the first seven months of this year, up 29 percent year-on-year, the Jilin Daily reported on Sunday.
"China expects to strengthen trade cooperation with neighboring countries including Russia, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries," Lu Zhenwang, an independent e-commerce analyst, told the Global Times.
E-commerce is developing fast in Russia, so the market potential is huge, Lu said, noting that the market scale is now above 100 billion yuan.
The US government recently announced new sanctions on Russia, which are scheduled to be effective later this month and would affect hundreds of millions of dollars in trade, media reports said.
Under the circumstances, it becomes more essential for the two large economies in the Eurasian continent to strengthen economic and trade relations to meet their domestic needs and support each other's economic development.
Russia announced on Monday that it favored bilateral trade with all countries in their national currencies, rather than the US dollar, but detailed work is needed before the implementation of the idea, Reuters reported.


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Lisa Simon, president of NTA, the tour industry association, testified at a joint hearing of U.S. House of Representatives Committees on Oversight & Government Reform and Natural Resources about the effect of the government shutdown on tour operators – even as Congress finally seemed to be getting its act together on Oct. 16 on the government shutdown and debt ceiling limits.
According to Simon, a significant majority of NTA’s 700 member tour operators offer packages to the national parks and have been forced into crisis mode. “An abrupt shutdown of all 401 national park units cannot come without significant disruptions and costs,” she said, in her statement before the committee. According to Simon, 91 percent reported that they had had to cancel or postpone tours since the Oct. 1 closure, and 56 percent saw a decrease in visitors within days of the shutdown.
Though the shutdown was anticipated as a possibility in the weeks before it happened, most tour operators were caught off guard as to the extent of the closures. Communications about the closings had been minimal, she said. Tour operators plan their tours six to 18 months in advance, Simon said, so even a few weeks’ notice was extremely disruptive to business.
“Since Oct. 1, tour operators and their supplier partners have been scrambling to reroute itineraries and find alternative destinations and activities on a daily basis,” she said. “And given the uncertainty of when the shutdown will end, they continue to redesign future tours.”
The issues confronted by tour operators during the shutdown include “refunds demanded by customers, cancelled departures, alternative activity selection and bookings, displacement from national park-based hotels and restaurants and postponed trips.”
To communicate the degree of devastation now being experienced by the tour industry as a result of the shutdown, Simon read a few quotes from tour operators in response to a survey, including the following: “We laid off employees and closed for the year a month early.” “These (international) visitors will return to China, Japan, Korea, France, Italy, Germany, and the UK with bad feelings towards U.S. tourism and towards our tour operators and bus companies for not accommodating them (at our national parks).” “Our business as a tour operator revolves around national parks, sites, etc. Not having access to these items has crippled us.” “We are dying.” “This shutdown has made it very difficult for us to operate tours.”
According to Simon, in addition to the immediate losses, the shutdown will have lasting effects on both the U.S. travel industry and international visitation. “The closure of the national parks is a big part of the reason that countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia have issued travel warnings about travel to the United States,” she said. “The U.S. Travel Association estimates that we are losing $152 million daily.”
In addition, NTA has been working with China to help create safe and reliable travel arrangements for Chinese tourists, and the shutdown was creating huge problems in that arena. “The beginning of October was ‘Golden Week’ in China, which is a major vacation week, and the U.S. is a major “dream” destination for the Chinese,” said Simon. “NTA tour operators serving this rapidly growing inbound market have reported disappointed and angry Chinese customers who were unable to visit the national parks during their once-in-a-lifetime trip to the U.S. Many of these inbound China operators were not familiar with what parks and attractions were federal versus state and local, and thus had an even greater challenge finding information about their planned tours.”


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Becky's Flowers In Roseville Bombarded With Hate, Mistaken For Shop Owned By Capitol Rioter
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — A Roseville flower shop is caught in the middle of a fight that's not even theirs. Now Becky's Flowers wants to set the record straight.
The Roseville store is taking heat for someone in Midland, Texas who's accused of taking part in the Capitol riots.
Assistant manager Kali Mitchell described the stress of simply answering the telephone.
"I said, 'Becky's Flowers how can I help you?' And it was immediately met with, 'Are you the b**** that stormed the Capitol?'" said Mitchell.
"I even had one guy say a lot of things I can't say on TV, obviously," said owner Aaron Alberti.
Those words were aimed at Jenny Cudd. Cudd was arrested Wednesday and charged with a misdemeanor accused of taking part in the Capitol riots.
She could be seen smiling and waving at cameras as she left a virtual hearing. She told media outlets she'd, "do it again, and I'd have a gas mask next time."
Here's where the Roseville store comes in. Cudd also owns a Becky's Flowers, but it's an entirely separate shop in Midland, Texas.
"We're getting attacked from the left, from the right, from people who really don't care. People say, 'I'm just here to troll you.' It just shows you the ugly side of humanity I guess," said Alberti.
More from CBS Sacramento:
- In Aftermath Of US Capitol Attack, New Scrutiny For Police Officers' Social Media Posts
- Restaurants Cautiously Optimistic As Greater Sacramento Region Stay-At-Home Orders Lifted
- Deputy Shoots, Kills Mountain Lion That Kept Following Family On Trail Near Placerville
"Like, I'm just trying to help run a business and do what I do from day to day, and yet I have to get hate and being called a terrorist and things like that," said Mitchell.
What started with one one-star review for an order the Roseville store never even took, has now spiraled out of control.
"Even the one in England, or Scotland I believe, they're getting the same thing and they're not even in this country," said Alberti.
"So little could be done to fix this and it's crazy that it's even happening," said Mitchell.
Perhaps even more crazy, Alberti says while they rack up bad reviews, Cudd's social media is gone along with all her bad reviews.
"When I woke up Google had removed all of them. So now she has a five-star rating, nobody can leave any reviews for her but they can still do it to us," said Alberti.
Becky's Flowers has a warning to customers on its website stating:
"ATTENTION: Our shop has NOTHING to do with the Becky's Flowers in Midland, TX or any affiliation with Jenny Cudd. Our shop is in California. We did NOT storm the Capitol Building."
for more features.


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Led by Umberto Cini, Managing Director of Maserati Middle East and Africa, Maserati managers were keen on attending the press conference and the inauguration ceremony of Maserati Egypt’s new showroom and service center, and Maserati Levante SUV launch event in Egypt.
Cini started his speech by expressing his happiness over inaugurating the new showroom, describing it as “the new Maserati home” in Egypt. He expressed his pride over the company’s steps towards granting Egyptian clients “the Maserati pure experience”, which will enable them to purchase one of the new models, which will be exhibited in the showroom, such as Ghibli, Quattroporte and levante.
As for its plan to operate in Egypt, Cini said Maserati is a world-class brand that operates under the umbrella of FIAT Chrysler Automobiles. The company’s vision is to reach out to all possible clients across the universe in order to offer them the Maserati experience, saying: “Maserati is not a car, it is a lifestyle that reflects our values and our brand’s value of elegance and performance as well”.
He added that the company chose to expand in the models available in Egypt, starting from Ghibli and Quattroporte, then Levante. “Over the past period, we observed a notable development in the market, and noticed an opportunity for further success in the country, in collaboration with our local partner, MTI. Within six months, we had our first showroom,” Cini said.
During the ceremony, Maserati launched Levante, which has recently joined its fleet. “Levante is the first ever Maserati SUV, which means that the car offers enjoyable driving experience, with special consideration to details, performance and stability…”, said Cini. The car was tested for months to make sure that it lives up to the customers’ expectations. He added: “We guarantee that the car will be at the same elegance, optimum manufacturing, pleasure and performance levels, like any other Maserati”.
Meanwhile, Levante marketing strategy is based on one-to-one meetings with possible customers, because the sales experience heavily depends on personalization and individual preferences more than anything else.


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The largest International trade fair “International Planzenmesse-Essen - IPM-2018» will be held 23-26 January in Essen, Germany.
IPM Essen, the main European forum for green sector specialists will be held this year for the 36th time.
Annually the main market leaders take part in the fair. In 2018 1 600 exhibitors from 50 countries of the world are expected there. Thanks to the entire value chain of plants IPM attracts trade visitors from all continents. Annually the fair is visited by 60 000 green sector professionals from 90 countries.
IPM 2018 will feature achievements and new trends of the sector development, comprehensive review of the horticultural market, the best innovative varieties of flowers and ornamental plants, seeds, planting stock, equipment and technology for garden construction, landscape and floral design.
In 2018 Denmark is again a partner country of the fair.
The fair is accompanied by an interesting and rich business program including a congress “Prospects of Horticulture and Landscape Design”, the 11th competition of innovative novelties and a floral show “CUP 2018”.
The world’s leading European forum for green sector IPM Essen is a partner of the main Russian trade fair for horticulture “FlowersExpo” (September 11-13 2018. Moscow, Crocus Expo).
The most important forum for green sector specialists IPM invites.


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The Democratic Alliance MP Kevin Mileham said that Eskom’s demand for more tariff hikes on electricity which consumers are denied using as a result of prolonged load-shedding would be outrageous and insulting.
Mileham said it’s shameful that South Africans are struggling with rising living costs and daily load- shedding, while Eskom is applying to the National Energy Regulatory Authority of South Africa (NERSA) for a 32.02 % tariff increase, which it expects to be passed on to consumers – for a product that the energy supplier does not provide.
Eskom plans to apply for a tariff increase of 32% from April 1, 2023/24.
He warned that if Eskom’s tariff request is approved amid a cost-of-living crisis, millions of South Africans will become poor, businesses will close, and unemployment will worsen.
He said that 2022 will be remembered as the worst year of load-shedding in South African history, and that Eskom plans on charging high tariffs on a product that they are unable to deliver.
He said that the increase in tariff applications comes as part of the DA’s national campaign against the rising cost of food, which is causing many South Africans to struggle to afford food.
Mileham said DA will do everything it can to ensure Eskom does not raise its prices unjustifiably.


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08/18/2013, When we talk about video games and Microsoft, one of the enduring images or names would be Halo that defined the Xbox, marking Microsoft’s first foray into the video game console market. Well, Microsoft has certainly come a long way since the early Xbox days, and you could say that Halo: Spartan Assault happens to be Microsoft’s attempt in delivering the popular intellectual property of theirs to the mobile device […]
07/25/2013, Microsoft did announce that they were developing a live action Halo television series earlier this year, and this collaboration would see the great Steven Spielberg come aboard as one of its executive producers. Apart from that reveal, Microsoft did lie low concerning the TV show, but it was some time this week that Nancy Tellem, president of Xbox Entertainment Studios, dropped two more hints concerning the Halo TV show as […]
07/18/2013, It was yesterday when we mentioned that Halo: Spartan Assault can be enjoyed today, and here we are with the app already being made available over at the Windows App Store, where the link is provided at the end of the story. In Halo: Spartan Assault, the game’s timeline has been set to be between Halo 3 and Halo 4, where one is thrown headlong into the first missions of […]
07/17/2013, Halo: Spartan Assault, the top down arcade shooter from Vanguard Games and 343 Industries is all set for a global release tomorrow for computers that run on the Windows 8 operating system, in addition to mobile devices and tablets, at least according to the folks over at Halo Waypoint. For folks living in the US, the mobile version of Halo: Spartan Assault has already been slated to be an exclusive […]
07/12/2013, Halo: Spartan Assault is said to arrive on Verizon for $6.99.
07/08/2013, Halo 4 will receive a new DLC called Champions Bundle on August 20.
07/01/2013, At this weekend's Seattle Pride Parade, Microsoft attended with Master Chief and the Halo Warthog.
06/04/2013, Microsoft is announcing a new Halo game built for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 called Halo: Spartan Assault.
06/02/2013, Microsoft has registered the Oneguide trademark.
04/30/2013, One of the most influential first-person shooters on consoles has got to be Bungie’s Halo series. The series certainly pushed forward the FPS genre to be taken more serious at a time where a keyboard and mouse were seen as the only way a shooter game can be played. But what if Halo was released on one of the first home video game consoles, the Atari 2600? Would it have […]
04/24/2013, It was earlier this morning when we first brought you word that there is a possible new Call of Duty title that is known as Ghosts which appeared online (or at least, its box art did), where it was duly removed shortly afterwards, where that act lent further credence that Call of Duty: Ghosts is very real, and is obviously on its way to the mass market. Well, looks like […]
03/11/2013, Halo 4′s Majestic Map Pack was the last piece of DLC content released by 343 studios, which was released just a few weeks ago. Before the game released, Microsoft had promised three additional map packs would be released, and today, we’re hearing some information regarding the final map pack, called Castle. The Castle Map Pack for Halo 4 will add three new maps as well as a 6 vs. 6 […]
12/06/2012, Halo 4 may not have shared the success Call of Duty: Black Ops II has, especially when you consider the game is exclusive to the Xbox 360. But the series itself has had quite the run as Microsoft announced today 50m units of the entire Halo series have been sold. Halo debuted on the Xbox back in 2001 and since then has received regular updates all the way to this year’s Halo […]
08/14/2012, Sharp has worked hand in hand with Gundam Front Tokyo in order to deliver a range of Halo robot vacuum cleaners which are based on the Sharp Cocorobo vacuum cleaner, where it is able to carry out a conversation with you. We are talking about a vacuum cleaner that is capable of helping you keep the room clean without having it talk back or pull a long face, especially after […]


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THQ confirmed it has pushed back Darksiders 2 to the publisher's 2013 fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2012. The game was previously slated to ship in THQ's 2012 fiscal year (April 2011 through March 31, 2012).
"We want to release a key title in each quarter over the next two and a half years," a THQ spokesperson said in a statement given to IGN. "We have moved UFC Undisputed to Q4 of fiscal year 2012. That was the original target for Darksiders 2. Therefore, we decided to move Darksiders 2 to early fiscal year 2013."
Darksiders 2 will likely join THQ's other major action title in 2012, Devil's Third, which is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of that year.


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WILTON, Conn. -- Mantis Golf, maker of fine putters with specialized patented qualities to enhance putting success, will exhibit its putter line at the 2013 Haggin Oaks Golf Expo, to take place April 26-28 at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, Calif.
"We look forward to participating in this outstanding event, which draws a robust crowd every year," said Chris Maher, CEO of Mantis Golf. "Attendees will enjoy discovering how a Mantis putter can sharpen their putting stroke and elevate their game."
America's largest consumer golf event, Haggin Oaks Golf Expo, now in its 38th year, hosts golfers from all over California, Oregon and Nevada, who gather to see the latest in everything from golf equipment to vacation destinations and everything in between. Admission is free to the public. This year over 165 different manufacturers and booths are scheduled to appear. Golf organizations such as the U.S. Golf Association, the PGA of America, the Northern California Golf Association and The First Tee also will be represented at the Expo.
About Mantis Golf
With a blend of old-world craftsmanship and state-of-the-art technology, Mantis Golf putters feature the finest workmanship and built-in performance elements to help golfers discover and refine their most effective putting strokes. Retro in its simplicity yet revolutionary in its concept, the Mantis putter, with its patented green finish, is designed to minimize the visual attention a golfer gives to the putter and maximize attention to the ball and the line of the putt, thus producing a smoother putting stroke and more consistent results. With a color to match the putting surface, minimal alignment markings and a matte finish to reduce reflection, the Mantis putter, which conforms with USGA rules, does not fight the ball for attention. After all, the putter is part of the show, but the ball is the hero.
Founded in 2012 by Michael Dill and Chris Maher, Mantis Golf Company, which made its debut at the 2013 PGA Merchandise Show, was launched with one initial mallet design. Expansion plans include additional putter-head designs as well as the possibility of other clubs where the patent-pending green utility may provide the same benefit.
For more information, see www.mantisgolfco.com.
Sally J. Sportsman


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Sumary of Russian shopping centers may replace Western brands with Turkish and Chinese ones:
- DNA Realty CEO Anton Belykh is persuade that abroad names do not intend to leave Russia completely.
- The president of the Union of Shopping Centers, Bulat Shakirov, overlap this message with Russian press Izvestia.
- However, these institutions have not informed individual shopping centers that they will vacate the contract sites.
- Following the Russian war in Ukraine, the worst case scenario for shopping centers will be a 30-40 proportion emptiness rate.


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By: Nghiinomenwa Erastus
The constant increase in electricity and fuel in the domestic economy can contribute to the high cost of doing business in Namibia and burden consumers further.
According to the latest analysis of Simonis Storms Securities, the cost of electricity could be increased beyond the inflation level to cater for NamPower’s increasing expenditure.
Moreover, the country has increased the fuel cost for both diesel and petrol five times this year.
“Due to increased Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) by NamPower, electricity price changes might have to exceed the annual rate of inflation in the medium-term,” Simonis Storm’s analysis projects.
CAPEX includes any spending to improve, expand or maintain a company’s fixed assets- this includes Nampower planned projects include biomass, wind, and solar generation projects.
These projects will be rolled out over the next five years, costing a total of N$13,9 billion.
Simonis Storm explained that while NamPower strives to maintain electricity price changes in line with annual rates of inflation, “CAPEX projects will increase costs and might necessitate above-inflation hikes”.
As a result of the cost, outlay to enable local generation, the research team project that more electricity tariffs burden comes from consumers’ disposable income.
“Consumers can therefore expect higher electricity prices charged by respective Municipalities,” the analysis read.
Even though the Electricity Control Board approves electricity hikes in Namibia, actual generation and cost are done and incurred by Nampower and Independent Power Producers.
Even though different factors are at play, consumers in Europe also face higher electricity bills, where gas prices have surged 272,8% between March 2021 and September 2021.
With housing and gas, electricity takes up the most significant chunk (28,36%) of consumers’ income in the consumer basket.
Moreover, it is the main inputs in the production, with various firms installing solar to generate their power, to lower their long term cost of energy.
In addition to this, Namibian consumers and businesses also face higher fuel prices, given the latest 30 cents per litre increase (effective 6 October 2021).
This is the fifth fuel price increase for 2021.
Simonis Storm’s analysis highlighted that although Rising petrol prices disgruntle Namibian consumers, there is always someone else worse off.
Within the transport category, fuel (diesel and petrol) has experienced the highest inflationary pressure ( price growth) from April to September this year.
NSA stats show that fuel price has increased between 10% and 21% from April this year to September.
In other words, for the six months, consumers and businesses had to increase their expenditure on fuel.
Compared to neighbouring and other African countries, Namibia fares moderately better in terms of petrol prices, being in the lower half of the fuel price spectrum.
Overall, Simonis Storm highlighted that inflation remains below its long-run average of 5,4% (since 2003).
Moderating inflation since last year is reflective of subdued consumer spending, coupled with lower government spending (fiscal consolidation) in certain industries.
Phenomena such as global supply chain bottlenecks and climate change effects provide support for cost-push inflationary pressures.
The research, investing, and broker company added that demand-pull inflationary pressures remain weak because consumers remain cautious in their spending decisions. Email: email@example.com